Pangaea Express: Ontario Becoming FAST to Access

The Ontario Government announced the Funding Accelerated for Specific Treatments (FAST) program to fast-track access for breakthrough cancer drugs. This 3-year pilot program will expedite access for 7-10 high-priority cancer drugs every year approved by Health Canada through the international regulatory collaboration, Project Orbis.

The FAST pilot program is expected to improve the time to access by 9 months for certain medications with a positive CDA recommendation as they will be funded by the Ontario government while pCPA negotiations are still underway. However, if public funding is not continued once pCPA negotiations are completed, the manufacturer will need to fund the drug for patients who started treatment during the interim period. Drugs are excluded from selection for FAST if:

• the drug is complex (for example, CAR-T)
• the drug requires complex negotiations
• the drug is eligible for other accelerated public funding pathways
• the ministry does not consider funding the drug under the FAST pilot to be in the public interest

Manufacturers are to email the Ministry if they are interested in participating in the FAST pilot, following a submission to Canada Drug Agency.

It will be important for manufacturers to negotiate a pCPA agreement that satisfies the Ontario government to ensure their drugs will indeed be funded following the interim period. Though, manufacturers will likely choose this FAST path for shorter-term oncology drugs with a set duration of treatment.

For more information, please contact Suzanne Solman at ssolman@pangaea-consultants.com or Jimmy Fung at jfung@pangaea-consultants.com